Drawing dictation – FCE Speaking Exam Focus

The FCE speaking exam lasts 14 minutes, and for part of that time students are expected to talk about and compare a pair of photographs. This lesson is designed to help them prepare in an entertaining way.

Lesson aims:

To practise description

To develop listening skills

Procedure:

Place students in groups. Tell them that one student is going to describe and the others are going to draw.

You should enforce a strict English only policy during this activity.

The student should choose a picture at random (without being able to see what it is). He or she then has 4 minutes to describe it to the rest of his group. They group are to draw what they hear. The teacher should monitor the language carefully, writing down errors.

After the time is up, the students should compare the original picture to their versions.

It’s very simple, surprisingly fun and it tests a number of skills.The students will be able to see how well they described when they see the results.

At close, the teacher should write mistakes on the board and use peer-correction to conclude.

Choice of photograph

The more interesting the picture, the better. You can spend hours trawling the internet looking – I’ve found searching for “surreal” is enough. I’ve included a few pictures to get you started.